Target Store Openings Since the First in 1962 – Data Now Available

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FlowingData readers who have been around for a while will remember I made a map early this year that showed the growth of Target stores across America. It starts with the first one in 1962 and then goes from there. It was a follow-up to the Walmart map, which I shared the code and data for.

Anyways, I often still get emails about the Target data. I finally got around to asking if I could release it, and lucky for your the answer was yes. So here you are. Go wild.

By the way, if anyone has similar data for Starbucks, let me know. There’s gotta be at least one Starbucks analyst who reads this blog. Maybe?

That is a very fun animation! I’m amazed at how well Target has matched my moves around the country.

One thing not shown in the data you have is store closures and replacements. For instance, the first Target was built in the Minneapolis suburb of Roseville in 1962; it was demolished in 2005 and replaced with a Super Target (#2101). That shifts the dates of some of the sites toward the later date ranges and makes the early stages even sparser in contrast the pop-pop-pop appearance of stores later in the video. I have no idea where to find store closure data in compiled form.